Preface Section A: Climate Change and Precipitation Climate Change in China and Its Contributions to Yangtze River Floods S. BECKER et al. On Global Climatic Change and Its Countermeasures in China Y.J. WU et al. Dryness and Wetness Variability of Eastern China Watersheds I. Bordi et al. Climate Change in the East-Asian Monsoon-Introduction of a New Method of Time Series Analysis H. X. CAO et al. Atmospheric Intra-seasonal Oscillation and Summer Rainfall over the Yangtze-Huai River Valley C. Y. Ll et al. Centennial Variations and Recent Trends in Summer Rainfall and Runoff in the Yangtze River Basin, China Q. HU 21st Century Impact of Greenhouse Effects on the Middle and Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River Y. XU et al. Precipitation Trends in Hubei Province Since the 1960s Z. H. CHEN et al. Recent Trends of Heavy Rain Events in the Yangtze River Valley H. Q. YANG et al. Rainstorm and Precipitation Trends in the Yangtze River Catchment 1951-2002 B. D. SUet al. Regional Response in Hunan Province to Global Climate Warming L. LI et al. Section B: Climate Change and Runoff Precipitation Scenarios for Hydrologic Climate Impact Studies G. BüRGE Impact Study of Climate Change on Runoff in the Yuanjiang River Basin X. CHEN et al. Impact of Climate Change on Runoffs from Hanjiang and Ganjiang in the Yangtze River Basin D. L. CHEN et al. Scenario-Based Modelling Studies to Assess the Impact of Climate Change on Floods in the German Rhine Catchment A.THIEKEN et al. Yangtze Floods——Observations and Scenarios Y. F. SHl et al. An Analysis of Abrupt Changes in Monthly Streamflow at the Yichang Section of the Yangtze River, China J. M. JIANG et al. Prediction Studies on the Annual Maximum Flow of the Hanjiang River in Guangdong Province L. P. LIU et al. Variation of Precipitation and Runoff in the Yangtze River Catchments Since 1960 G. Y. REN et al. The Decadal Scale Variation of Rainfall-Runoff in the Yangtze River Basin H. Y. SHEN Section C: Yangtze River Floods Flood Risk in the Changing World-Yangtze Floods in Perspective Z. W. KUNDZEWICZ Influences of the Tibetan Plateau Winter-Spring Snow on Summer Rainfall in the Basin of the Yangtze River Z. G. WEI Fluctuation of Historical Floods and Droughts in the Yangtze River Catchment Z. S. HUANG et al. Historical Floods in the Yangtze River Catchment Y.HUANG et al. Large Floods on the Chuanjiang Reaches of the Yangtze River Since the Middle Holocene-A Primary Analysis D. Y. YANG et al. Big Floods Sediments During the Past 30,000 Years in the Yangtze River Basin Z. S. GE et al. Connections Between Sea Level Changes and Paleofloods Since the Holocene in the Yangtze Delta Q. ZHANG et al. Heavy Floods in the Yangtze River Since 1990 H. Y. CHEN G et al. Hydromorphological Characteristics of the Yangtze River of China Z. Y. CHEN Section D: Flood Hazards and Flood Defence New Demands for Flood Protection in the Yangtze River Catchment M. GEMMER et al Flood Risks and Risk Reduction-a Re-insurer's Viewpoint W. KRON The Cause of Flooding in the Yangtze River Valley and Measures for Disaster Reduction Z. Z. LI Flood Characteristics of the Yangtze River and Countermeasures for Flood Control J. WANG The Three-Gorge Project:Its Influence on the Flood Risk Along the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River and on the Economy of the Region Surrounding the Reservoir H. HARTMANN et al. Interdisciplinary Risk Analyses as a Contribution to Disaster Prevention: Experiences of the German Research Network Natural Disasters B. MERZ et al. Simulated Storage Capacity of Flood and Water Logging in the Typical Wetland Region of the Jianghan Plain X. L. WANG Floods in the River Rhine in the Context of Climate Change and the Flood Action Plan of the ICPR (International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine) H. ENGEL Application of the SWAT Model for River Flow Forecasting in Sri Lanka H. A. P. HAPUARACHCHI et al Authors' CorresPondence